WTF Wednesday: Olympic Mascots Blamed for Natural Disasters
There’s no shortage of superstitions in the world, especially in the world of sports and in the developing world. It’s no surprise then that the designer of the Beijing Olympic Mascots is taking heat for his cuddling little characters are being blamed for causing last month’s Earthquake.
The mascots are said to be five harbingers of doom, and so far “four of the five cartoon mascots have fulfilled prophesies of doom with one more, connected to the Yangtze River, still to come.” That’s according to an article from last month.
At the center of all this drama is the mascot designer, Mr. Han Meilin. Poor guy. A post from UnBeige highlights his trouble.
I’ve been very critical about Olympic logos and mascots, but I truly like these Chinese ones. In fact, there is a bit of tension brewing in London over the creation of a mascot for the 2012 games. That design may go to a public contest to avoid a repeat of the logo debacle. For more about mascots, check out this article from the NY Times.
// a tale of China, WTF, brands & branding, design, national identities
// 1 Comment »
// 13 October 2009, 11:15
[...] theme on this blog, as I have taken particular interest in the London 2012 logo, and the mascots of Beijing, and [...]